Background While increased levels of circulating inflammatory cytokines in chronologically aged humans have been linked to the development of ageing‐associated chronic disorders (e.g., cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disease), approaches that reduce circulating cytokines are not yet available. In chronologically aged mice, we recently demonstrated that epidermal dysfunction largely accounts for age‐associated elevations in circulating cytokine levels, and that improving epidermal function reduced circulating cytokine levels. Objective We performed a pilot study to determine whether improving epidermal function reduces circulating pro‐inflammatory cytokine levels in aged humans. Methods Thirty‐three aged humans were topically treated twice‐daily for 30 days, with ≈ 3 mL of an emollient, previously shown to improve epidermal function, while untreated, aged humans and a cohort of young volunteers served as controls. Changes in epidermal function and levels of three key, age‐related, plasma cytokines (IL‐1β, IL‐6 and TNFα) were measured at baseline and after treatment, using Luminex 200™ system. Results We also found significantly higher baseline levels of IL‐1β, IL‐6 and TNFα in aged vs. young humans (P < 0.001), as previously reported. Topical applications of the barrier repair emollient significantly enhanced epidermal permeability barrier function (P < 0.01) and stratum corneum hydration (P < 0.05). In parallel, circulating levels of IL‐1β and IL‐6 normalized, while TNFα levels declined substantially. Conclusion The results of this preliminary study suggest that a larger clinical trial should be performed to confirm whether improving epidermal function also can reduce circulating pro‐inflammatory cytokine levels in aged humans, while also possibly attenuating the downstream development of chronic inflammatory disorders in the aged humans.

While therapeutic approaches for psoriasis are widely available, preventive regimens are lacking. We aimed to determine whether improvements in epidermal function could prevent psoriasis relapse. Two self-controlled cohort studies were designed, enrolling two cohorts of patients with psoriasis (n = 30 and n = 60) to be treated topically with an in-house-prepared emollient or ATOPALM â cream applied twice daily to one forearm for 20 and 30 days, respectively, while the same sites on the contralateral arm served as the untreated control. Epidermal function on both arms was assessed prior to and at the end of the trials. Delayed relapse on the treated arm was seen in 54.5% and 71% of patients in the first and second cohort, respectively. The time of psoriatic relapse correlated with the extent of abnormalities in baseline epidermal function. These results suggest that improvements in epidermal function with topical emollients can prevent/attenuate the development of psoriasis.Psoriasis is generally considered an immunologically initiated disorder because: (i) it shares certain common susceptibility loci with other autoimmune diseases, 1 (ii) it displays changes in immunological markers both in the skin and circulation 2 and (iii) immunotherapy is effective. 3 However, a pathogenic role of epidermal dysfunction in psoriasis is also thought to occur, 4,5 because: (i) psoriasis preferentially involves the body sites that are vulnerable to epidermal trauma, (ii) Koebner phenomenon indicates that psoriasis can be provoked by perturbations of epidermal function and (iii) occlusion alone often alleviates psoriasis. We assessed whether improving epidermal function with topical emollients could prevent psoriasis relapse.

Previous studies have shown that endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene may be involved in abnormal semen parameters. However, the relationship between eNOS G894T polymorphism and semen parameters remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of eNOS G894T polymorphism and semen parameters. The genotype frequency of eNOS G894T was determined in 270 idiopathic asthenozoospermia patients and 248 ethnically matched healthy volunteers using iPLEX genotyping assays on a MassARRAY(®) (Sequenom, San Diego, CA, USA) platform. The statistical analysis performed with Fisher's exact test showed no significant difference in frequencies of genotypes between both groups. The logistic regression showed that genotypes GT, TT and allele T were nonassociated with increased risk of asthenozoospermia in the patient group with ≤5% or >5% sperm with normal forms. The dependence on genotypes of semen parameters was further investigated in both patients and control group. There was no significant difference as compared to control group (P > 0.05). Our study indicated that eNOS gene G894T polymorphism may not have an adverse effect on semen parameters in a Chinese Han population.